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Reader Phil emailed in to direct us to this extensive Flickr set, detailing his efforts to repair a Denon DCD-825 CD player—one that was 14 years old, but no less loved by audiophiles. In keeping with the week's theme, Phil didn't just take fate's suggestion that he upgrade laying down, but reached for around $30 in parts and patched in a new lens unit.

Reader Chirag submitted a simple but problem-solving fix he uses for semi-securing luggage in a way that deters would-be thieves with a lazy streak, but doesn't require the TSA to bust open a $10 lock on every flight:

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I use key rings to lock the zip of my check-in baggage and also to secure my carry on baggage.

Advantage of using key ring is that it can be opened without a key! But at the same time it takes a small amount of time to get the ring out, this small amount of time is good enough to discourage anyone with malicious intent to try opening the bag.

Dave submitted a tale that saved him around $40, restored his tried and tested car, and cost him literally one cent, along with some elbow grease:

Some years ago the starter on my '79 Honda failed. It didn't go all at once - it clicked once when you turned the key, then worked on the next turn. Then it was 2, 3, 10, and finally wouldn't engage at all, just click. I pulled the starter out. It turned out there was a metal "plunger" which pulled in when the key was turned and made contact between two thick copper pieces to power the motor. Due to not making good contact, the connection had arced, eventually burning away enough of one piece of copper that no contact was made. I took a penny (most of them were solid copper then) and hammered it into roughly the shape of the burned away area, soldered it into place, then filed it down until it was flush. I reassembled and reinstalled the starter. The car worked for some years afterward, and when it died, the starter was not the cause. To this day I am proud of my one-cent repair!

Reader Timothy wrote in with a tale of both geeky necessity and on-the-spot electro-engineering:

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My proudest DIY moment just happened to come out of necessity. A friend of mine would bring up Rock Band from his place roughly an hour away. While unpacking and setting up we discovered he forgot the pedal. I wasn't about to let that ruin my need to slam on those rubber discs all into the morning, so I came up with this makeshift pedal, using things I had around the house. I saved the day with an audio adapter, a metal plate, duct tape and a sandal. Hope you like it.

Be sure to hit that link for a full explanation of how the (original) Rock Band drums could be wired up with RCA plugs and a simple contact point to accept all the foot stomping you want to put on them.

We're sharing our office space with the baby so we are limited on the space we have for furniture; additionally ... accessory crib furniture is expensive. We liked the over-the-crib changing station but the only ones we could find cost $350, so I decided to build one myself. It cost less than $30 for supplies plus an investment in a drill and drill bit set.

Commenter wjglenn dropped this harrowing tale of late-night office lock-out, along with its not-so-obvious solution. He was renting doctor's office space, with a door that locked on its own when shut. And so, late one night ...

... Aound 2:00am, I went out that door to go to the bathroom and the door fell shut behind me. I knew as I heard the click that I didn't have my keys in my pocket. So, I was stuck in the entryway behind three locked doors. No keys, no cell phone. I thought I might have to break one of the glass doors. But then I decided to see what I had at my disposal.

I ended up taking apart the toilet. I used the clip that held the chain to the flush valve as a makeshift screwdriver to take apart the refill tube. Attached to that was a flat piece of metal - not sure of the name. I was able to get that piece of metal behind the doorknob to my office, using the top of the toilet tank as a hammer. I got the knob away from the door enough that I could reach in with the lift rod from the tank and push the latch inside and open the door.

And the best part? I was able to put the toilet back together afterward. :-)

Mine actually involved a paper clip. My passenger side window got stuck down due to an electrical failure. I was away from home and parking in a bad neighborhood, so I couldn't fix it properly right then. I took the control panel off with a multi-tool and routed electricity from the power locks to the window motor using a paper clip and was able to put the windows up for the night.

Thanks to everyone who left their tales in the comments, or sent them in by email! If you've got one we missed, or you missed our initial call for submissions, feel free to drop it in the comments below.